However, the term Panda also has a surprising relationship to the name of the first western naturalist to describe the Giant Panda – the French missionary and naturalist Father Armand David, otherwise commonly known as Pere David. Stationed in China from the 1860’s, Pere David’s first contact with Giant Panda came in 1869 after receiving a skin from a hunter. What is interesting regarding the naming is that panda is in fact an acronym of Pere Armand David – P AN DA.
Nepalese ponya or French missionary panda? On the evidence it’s probably the Nepalese name that wins through since, apparently, the term panda had already been used in a report from Nepal for Red Panda in 1825 – predating the Pere David discovery by 34 years. So, it seems the acronym – Pere Armand David/ PANDA – is just a strange coincidence.
And the Chinese name for Panda? That is xiong mao or Bear Cat. Giant being Large Bear Cat and Red the Small Bear Cat.
